MYCUN Studios
MYCUN Studios is an American animation film production company, founded by Geo G. in February 2002. It had its own computer-animated company, CGI Entertainment, to produce computer-animated films. Now, MYCUN Studios is a part of 21st Century Fox, through 20th Century Fox. The studio has released a total of eleven feature films, including franchises of MYCUN, Dannie, The Wonderful World of Zak, and Goggles. Theatrical releases are mostly distributed by 20th Century Fox, with the exception of some films that are distributed by other film distributors (e.g. Mister Mosquito is distributed by Universal Pictures). On September 1, 2016, 21st Century Fox acquired MYCUN Studios for $3.6 billion, making it a division of the Fox Entertainment Group. Name The company's name "MYCUN" stands for "MinionsYesCarrieUnderwoodNo", and it is pronounced as "My-con." It was first discovered by founder Geo G. in early 2002. Geo stated that the name was a "play-up on MYCIN." The company is also named after the franchise of the same name. History MYCUN Studios was founded in February 2002 by Geo G., along with CGI Entertainment, MYCUN Studios is one of his three main companies, along with Glass Ball Productions and 2BIG3k Animation. That same month, the studio announced a full slate of animated projects in development: MYCUN: The Movie, Planetokio, Little Guys, Dannie's Long Adventure, and a computer-animated remake of Sky Riders. MYCUN Studios had an exclusive financing and distribution partnership between Universal Studios and 20th Century Fox. Its first feature film was MYCUN: The Movie, distributed by Universal and Fox and released on December 16, 2005, which became Universal's highest-grossing animated film and spawned three computer-animated sequels. Its second feature film, Dannie's Long Adventure was released on September 8, 2006, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, and won two Annie Awards. Mister Mosquito, released on May 25, 2007, was the studio's first fully computer-animated film and CGI Entertainment's first feature film as well. The studio's first sequel, Legend of MYCUN, opened in the United States on February 1, 2008, becoming the studio's most successful release. In March 2008, MYCUN Studios signed 20th Century Fox to a long-term deal with the studio to finance and distribute feature films for both domestic and international markets, since Universal lost the distribution rights for the MYCUN Studios films due to the commercial failure of Legend of MYCUN in India. However, the deal did not include the distribution rights of previously released films distributed by Universal, which MYCUN acquired from Universal later in 2011. Their fifth film and first stop-motion film, Little Guys, was released on November 25, 2009 and was nominated for four Annie Awards including Best Animated Feature. MYCUN Studios has wrapped up production on the fourth installment of the MYCUN franchise, titled MYCUN Forever, released on May 30, 2016. The studio is currently working on 3 Simple Doods and 1 Simple Doodette (2017), The Ronald McDonald Movie (2017), Nature Cat: The Movie (2017), The Wonderful World of Zak 2: Eggs, Pizza & Sugar (2017), Caleb: Legend of the Time Crystal (2017), Dannie 4 (2018), Goggles 2 (2018), MYCUN Redemption (2019), Fuzzies (2019), and an untitled original animated film (2020). It has many other projects in development, including A Dino For Fork, a feature-length version of the South Korean short film Alarm, Horrid Henry, Superworld, and The Relaxing House. On May 1, 2016, The New York Times reported that 21st Century Fox was in talks to acquire MYCUN Studios for $3 billion; the company already has its own feature animation studio, Blue Sky Studios, a division of 21st Century Fox's 20th Century Fox unit best known for the Ice Age franchise. On May 4, 2016, 21st Century Fox officially announced its intent to acquire MYCUN Studios for $3.6 billion, valuing the company at $41 per-share. Geo G. is to remain involved in the company as head of CGI Entertainment, but was to cede control of the studio to Blue Sky Studios' CEO Chris Wedge, who would oversee both. The sale was approved by board members, but is subject to regulatory approval. MYCUN will continue to honor its distribution contract with Universal, Destination Films, and Warner Bros. Pictures through its conclusion in early 2018, after which Fox is expected to handle every future release. On July 22, 2016, the acquisition was approved by the U.S. Department of Justice. The purchase was closed on September 1, 2016; the company now operates as a division of the Fox Entertainment Group. Although a spokesperson stated that Wedge would work with 20th Century Fox to determine "the most effective path forward for Blue Sky and MYCUN Studios", he did not take over MYCUN as was previously announced, and the two studios remain separate. MYCUN's digital, marketing, consumer products, and gaming divisions will be absorbed into 21st Century Fox. Filmography Feature films ''Released films Upcoming films Films in development Cancelled films There are some films that are unmade and unreleased by MYCUN Studios. Some of these films were, or still are, in development limbo. 2002 *Sky Riders'' - This computer-animated remake of the 1976 action film was developed by C. Elbourn. 20th Century Fox canceled the project due to story problems. *''Nerd Boy'' - The story is said to center on a geeky teenager who becomes a superhero. It was scrapped right after MYCUN: The Movie started production in December 2003. 2003 *''Untitled Futurama film'' - Futurama co-creator David X. Cohen wrote a treatment for a Futurama feature film to MYCUN Studios before the show's cancellation. It was to center on a dilemma for Fry, but it never begin production. *''Greenwoods'' - The project follows the story of a young man who got lost in the woods with fairy tale creatures. 2004 *''Planetokio'' - In February 2002, a computer-animated film adaptation based on the Planetokio game series was announced to be in development, along with MYCUN Studios' other films in development. This proposed film was specifically said to be based on the first game in the series. It was being directed by Steve Samono and Osamu Sato, the creator of Planetokio. Set to be released in 2007, the cast would have feature the voice cast from the games, including Debi Derryberry, Lauren Tom, George Takei, Maurice LaMarche, and Corey Burton. Due to creative reasons, production was ultimately shut down in 2004, in favor of Mister Mosquito. However, the two lead characters from Planetokio, Iken and Naomi, appear in the MYCUN franchise since 2012. *''Cland Ann 2'' - MYCUN Studios planned a proposed sequel to Cland Ann: The Movie, which was based on the ABC animated sitcom of the same name. It was cancelled before it began production. It was later reworked into Cland Ann: Silo Wilo Strikes Back. 2005 * *''The Shackers'' - Back in 2003, this was going to be an computer-animated feature distributed by Universal Pictures, but in 2005 it was dropped for an unknown reason. The plot of The Shackers is unknown. *''MYCUN: The Movie 2 (Original version)'' - This original version of the 2008 sequel to MYCUN: The Movie, Legend of MYCUN, was originally going to focused on Carrie Underwood escaping from jail and reunites her henchmen to track down Gabriel and the MYCUNs and destroy the world. She later teams up with Koba, who was still hiding from the tree from the graveyard from the first film, to take over the whole world. Fearing the world's destruction, Gabriel and his group of MYCUNs (Red, Gru, the Minions, Toon Link, Ico, Yorda, Coraline, Norman and Aggie) venture out to defeat Carrie, Koba and their henchmen and save the world. At the same time, Carrie and Koba kidnap the newcomers of the MYCUNs and Gabriel's favorite other characters. *''Pizza Boy'' - It was described as "a story about a boy who dreams of owning a pizza restaurant." 2006 *''If You Give a Mouse a Cookie'' - An adaptation based on Laura Numeroff's book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. In May 2005, it was reported that the book was optioned to MYCUN Studios, and its development was announced in December 2006 as a 2D/3D animated hybrid film. 2007 *''Mister Mosquito 2'' - Universal was set to adapt Ka 2: Let's Go Hawaii, as a stand-alone sequel to the film adaptation, Mister Mosquito (2007). However, due to the box-office failure, the film was cancelled. *''Rez'' - In 2003, an animated film based on Rez was announced by Universal and MYCUN Studios to be in production. Tetsuya Mizuguch was set to write the film's screenplay, but the production was eventually canceled. 2008 *''Gunboy'' - This proposed project for Universal would have followed a young boy who becomes a gunfighter to defeat monsters in an unknown place. It was planned to be released in 2010, but it was delayed to 2011. Due to the commercial failure of Universal's international release of Legend of MYCUN in India, which it caused Universal to lose the distribution rights for some of MYCUN Studios' films, they canceled the film. 2009 *''Little Guys 2'' - After the release of Little Guys (2009), Fox had plans for a sequel. Variety stated that the sequel was cancelled due to story problems. 2010 *''Another Code: Two Memories'' - This proposed motion-captured animated film would have been based on the point-and-click adventure game of the same name. It would have been directed by Taylor Grodin and Mike Moon, the directors of Legend of MYCUN. Fox could not afford the rights to the film, so it was scrapped. *''Nameless Game'' - This proposed feature film was to be based on the survival horror video game Nanashi no Game, which follows a college student at Nanto University, Tokyo who becomes cursed by the titular role-playing game, which causes people to die in seven days upon starting. However, Fox refused to green-light the project because it was too dark. *''Castle'' - Based on the web series by Oscar Johansson, it was originally directed by Michael Wildshill, and scheduled for a Christmas 2010 release. This film was to be the third animated feature film collaboration between Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox, and MYCUN Studios. However, the project was shelved in June 2006, though it returned development in 2008. 2011 *''Seasons'' - In 2011, Jose Garcia pitched his own film to MYCUN Studios execs, although it never came to fruition. This was later reworked into a personal graphic novel. *''Planetokio'' (revival) - The film would have been released on July 25, 2014, but it was delayed to late 2015. By April 2014, it was removed from the release schedule, but MYCUN Studios CEO Geo G. confirmed via Twitter that the film was put on hold. 2012 2013 2014 Direct-to-video TV Specials Short films Television series Trivia *As of 2016, MYCUN Studios has 11 films. However, if The Wonderful World of MYCUNs is counted, it has 12. *Geo the Stick Figure and the MYCUN Ball are the official mascots of MYCUN Studios. **Originally, Gabriel was the mascot of the said company, but it all turns out to be an unconfirmed rumor, so MYCUN Studios decided to make two original characters as mascots of the company. *There are some facts for the MYCUN Studios' new animated logo. **At the beginning of the MYCUN Studios' new logo that was about to debut in 3 Simple Doods and 1 Simple Doodette in 2017, the logo's text "MYCUN" is often mistaken as "MUNCHY", although it was nearly hidden by the said company's mascots. **This logo has been entirely created in 2D hand-drawn animation, and was animated by James Sharp, one of the character designers for Adventures of MYCUN. **It is also based on the Big Idea logo. Videos Category:Companies Category:MYCUN: The Movie Wiki Category:MYCUN Studios